# Lisa Palfrey

Lisa Palfrey (born 9 February 1967) is a Welsh actress. She is known for playing the roles of Gwenny in House of America (1997), Mrs. Nice in Guest House Paradiso (1999), Maureen in Pride (2014), Mrs. Dai Bread 1 in Under Milk Wood (2015), Cynthia in the Netflix original television series Sex Education and Eleanor James in the Sky One original television series COBRA.

## Early life

Palfrey was born in Wales on 9 February 1967, her mother is Eiry Palfrey, an actress and author. She attended Ysgol Gyfun Rhydfelen, a Welsh-medium secondary school near Pontypridd.

## Career

Palfrey started acting at the age of 20 when she played the role of 15-year-old girl, Jane Sanderson, in the BBC One television series The District Nurse. Her first major role was in the film The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain. She has gone on to star in the cult film House of America, and appeared as Melanie Collier in the medical drama television series Casualty as well as Inspector Tracey McAndrew in the third series of the police procedural television series Line of Duty. She played the role of Rhiannedd Frost in the Welsh soap opera Pobol y Cwm.
Palfrey has performed in a number of plays, including the original production of David Eldridge's Festen, The Iceman Cometh, Under The Blue Sky, and Tom Wells's The Kitchen Sink.
In 2019, Palfrey played the role of Cynthia in the Netflix original series Sex Education.
In 2020, Palfrey played the role of government minister Eleanor James in the Sky One original television drama series COBRA, written by Ben Richards and starring Robert Carlyle as British Prime Minister Robert Sutherland. She played the part of Pam Green in the BBC Drama Chloe in 2022. In 2023 she filmed the BBC television feature Men Up, about the first clinical trials for the drug Viagra that took place in Swansea in 1994.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1995 | The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain | Blod Jones | |
| 1997 | House of America | Gwenny | |
| 1997 | The Deadness of Dad | Mam | Short film |
| 1999 | Guest House Paradiso | Mrs. Nice | |
| 1999 | Oh Little Town of Bethlehem | Michelle | Short film |
| 2000 | Maybe Baby | Jan | |
| 2003 | Y Mabinogi | Arianrhod | Voice role |
| 2008 | Poncho Mamgu | Nel | Documentary |
| 2011 | 360 | Psychologist | |
| 2014 | Pride | Maureen | |
| 2015 | Under Milk Wood | Mrs. Dai Bread 1 | |
| 2015 | Visiting Mr Keats | Professor Bell | Short film |
| 2018 | National Theatre Live: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Big Mama | |
| 2019 | Make Up | Shirley | |
| 2021 | The Feast | Mair Bowen | |
| 2022 | Prey for the Devil | Sister Euphemia | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1987 | The District Nurse | Jane Sanderson | Episode: "A Flick of the Coin" |
| 1993 | Thicker Than Water | Young Mother | TV film |
| 1996 | Lord of Misrule | Amy Clarke | TV film |
| 1997 | Soldier Soldier | Private Diane Saltmarsh | Episode: "Fit to Explode" |
| 1997 | The Investigator | Sergeant Kathy Bartlett | TV film |
| 1999 | Split Second | Christine Montgomery | TV film |
| 2001 | Mind Games | DC Rebecca Longton | TV film |
| 2001 | The Bench | Jules Bowen | Episodes: S01 E01, S01 E03 |
| 2002 | Outside the Rules | Lola Davies | TV series |
| 2002 | Green-Eyed Monster | DC Karen Carter | TV film |
| 2002 | Casualty | Melanie Collier | 8 episodes |
| 2003 | High Hopes | Dominique | Episode: "Pretty Woman" |
| 2004 | The Bill | Fee Paterson | Episode: "187: Shaken" |
| 2004 | The Inspector Lynley Mysteries | Lizzie Shakespeare | Episode: "If Wishes Were Horses" |
| 2006–2007 | Pobol y Cwm | Rhiannedd Frost | Welsh TV series |
| 2010 | Pen Talar | Doctor | Episode: "Part 8" |
| 2013 | Family Tree | Luba Chadwick | Recurring role, 4 episodes |
| 2015 | The Bastard Executioner | Nia's mother | Episode: "Effigy/Ddelw" |
| 2016 | Line of Duty | Inspector Tracey McAndrew | 3 episodes |
| 2016 | Aberfan: The Green Hollow | Edna | TV movie, documentary |
| 2016 | Hinterland | Sioned Jones | Episode: "Aftermath" |
| 2019–2020 | Sex Education | Cynthia | Main role |
| 2019 | Wild Bill | Audrey Merrick | Episode: "Bad Blood in the Soil" |
| 2020 | COBRA | Eleanor James | Main role |
| 2021 | Intergalactic | Zeeda | Episode: S01 E02, S01 E02 |
| 2022 | Pact | Beth | Main role |
| 2023 | Men Up | Teresa Rigby | Television film |

### Video game

* Doctor Who: Attack of the Graske (2005), as Mum